Bank issuing letter of credit was liable to seller for purchase price when seller had furnished rele

UCP - Letter of Credit has effect of creating a bargain between banker and vendor of goods, a deemed nexus between seller and Issuing bank, rendering latter liable to seller to pay purchase price or to accept a bill of exchange upon tender of documents envisaged and stipulated in LC

HC stayed pre-deposit as revenue already had 25% of demand in the form of refund dues of assessee

IT: Where 25 per cent of demand was already with revenue in form of refund due to assessee, condition to deposit 50 per cent of demand for stay of assessment order pending disposal of appeal was not proper

Credit of additional excise duty on textile articles can't be used to pay BED

Excise & Customs : Accumulated credit of Additional Excise Duty (Textile and Textile Articles) cannot be used to pay Additional Excise Duty (Goods of Special Importance) or Basic Excise Duty; however, assessee can claim refund thereof as per law

Sec. 10A : Exp. incurred in foreign currency to provide technical services abroad is excludible from

IT: Expenses incurred in foreign currency on telecommunication charges and providing technical services outside India should be excluded from total turnover for purpose of computation of deduction under section 10A

Liability to pay duty is on supplier for inputs sent to jobworker and received by him within 180 day

Cenvat Credit : Liability to pay duty in respect of goods moved under Rule 4(5)(a) is on supplier of goods and not on job-worker even if said goods are not included in Notification No. 214/86

ICAI to re-adjudicate disciplinary proceedings against CA as he was held guilty ex-parte and was den

CA Act : Where a CA was held guilty of professional misconduct by Disciplinary Committee of CA institute without hearing him when he sought adjournment on medical grounds, matter was to be readjudicated

CIT(A) couldn't accept comparables chosen by assessee without allowing TPO to examine them

IT/ILT : A potential comparable having more than 25 per cent of related party transactions is to be ignored

Interest received on FDR was taxable as business receipt if FD was made in connection with finance b

IT : Where after passing special resolution of shareholders, assessee company started business of financing and investment along with trading in chemical, interest received from bank FDR and commission from sister concern was to be assessed as income from business and not as income from other sources

Department couldn’t allege suppression on assessee while issuing subsequent notices on same issues

Excise & Customs : Where all relevant facts were in knowledge of authorities when first show-cause notice was issued, while issuing second and third show-cause notices on same and similar facts, department cannot allege suppression of facts by assessee

Assessment order quashed as revenue failed to prove that it was dispatched in time with demand notic

IT : Where on basis of available evidence appellate authorities came to conclusion that assessment order was passed after period of limitation, no substantial question of law arises for consideration

Provision not in force during relevant period, cannot be used to deny credit

Cenvat Credit : Where notification restricting credit was not in force during relevant period, credit could not be denied to assessee

Non-supply of docs relied upon by deptt. to prove clandestine removal of goods results in denial of

Excise & Customs : Where demand of clandestine removal was based on railway documents and statements of witnesses, non-supply of said documents and not allowing cross-examination of said witnesses would violate principles of natural justice; hence, matter was remanded back

No reassessment alleging understatement of closing stock if all material facts were disclosed at ass

IT : Where assessee had disclosed all material facts pertaining to closing stock, reopening of assessment on ground of understatement of closing stock was not justified

Refund had to be granted in cash and not by way of re-credit when factory of assessee was closed dow

Cenvat Credit : Where assessee's factory is closed, refund of amount paid by assessee by using credit, must be granted in cash and not by way of re-credit

RBI relaxes loan norms on low-cost housing; allows addition of stamp duty/other charges in Loan-to-

BANKING : Review of instructions on housing loans

Brought forward loss not to be reduced while computing sec. 80-IA relief if it was set-off against o

IT : Where assessee was engaged in generation of power and its carry forward losses had already been set off against other income of business enterprise, deduction under section 80-IA was to be allowed

Tribunal dismissed appeal on assessee’s failure to submit proof of mandatory pre-deposit

Excise & Customs : Where assessee failed to submit proof of mandatory pre-deposit as per section 35F(iii), as amended by Finance (No. 2) Act, 2014, his appeal could not be entertained by Tribunal; hence, appeal was dismissed for said non-compliance

No denial of bad-debts claim merely because assessee doesn't have license to conduct money lending b

IT : Merely because assessee does not have license to conduct money lending business, could not be ground to deny deduction of bad debt in respect of amount lent in ordinary course of this business

Unabsorbed research exp. claimed as revenue exp. can’t be carried forward if hit by Sec. 79

IT: If assessee did not capitalize scientific research expenditure and claimed it as revenue expenditure, any unabsorbed portion of such research exp. would be in nature of business loss and not in nature of unabsorbed depreciation - Therefore, it would be subject to restriction imposed under Section 79 in case of closely held company

No sec. 14A disallowance when investment was made out of sale proceeds of shares and not from borrow

IT: Where assessee purchased shares from his own funds which were shown as investment and valued at cost price, income earned on sale of those shares was taxable as 'short term capital gain'.

Assessee can't claim interest on interest on income tax refund, says Kerala High Court

IT: Assessee cannot claim interest on interest on amount that are due to him by way of refund

Demanding security equivalent to maximum penalty to release seized goods wasn’t justified, says High

CST & VAT : U.P. VAT - Where Assessing Authority seized goods of assessee under transport and demanded security equal to 40 per cent of value of goods for releasing same, demand of security equivalent to maximum percentage of penalty was unjustified at stage of seizure

HC didn’t accept argument of penalty wavier as it was raised for the first time before it

CST & VAT : Kerala VAT - Where, contentions raised before High Court were not raised before the lower authorities, High Court's judgment levying minimum penalty equal to amount of tax needed no interference

No penalty on appellant alleging violation of FEMA norms when he had explained all remittances

FEMA : Where all remittances made by appellants had been explained and there was likelihood that appellant company had utilized remittances for import as claimed by it, violation of provisions of FEMA had not been established and impugned order imposing penalty was to be quashed

TPO couldn't determine ALP at Nil merely because assessee didn't derive any benefit from services re

IT/ILT : TPO cannot determine arm's length price of payments made by assessee to its AE at 'NIL' for reason that assessee did not derive any benefit from services rendered by AE

No sec. 69C addition alleging payment to Petroleum Minister merely on basis of statement of his secr

IT : Where statement made by additional private secretary of 'S' before enquiry officer did not establish payment by assessee to 'S', invocation of section 69C was not justified

ITO can't act as an Excise Officer to determine quantity of production for making addition of unexpl

IT: Where Assessing Officer verified registers maintained under Central Excise Act and doubted accuracy of figures mentioned therein, he was totally unsuited for undertaking exact production of material as same was outside his purview

Benefit of SSI exemption would be available from date of application to register trade mark

Excise & Customs: As per section 23 of Trade Marks Act, registration becomes effective from date on which application was filed and hence, in case of branded goods, trademark would belong to assessee from date of filing application and SSI-exemption would be available accordingly

CESTAT set aside penalty on failure of assessee to pay ST as it had paid 25% if demand as penalty un

Service Tax : Where penalty under section 78 was paid at 25 per cent of service tax within 1 month from adjudication order, assessee could not be asked to pay any further penalty under section 76 or 78, even prior to 10-5-2008

No disallowance of interest if AO failed to prove that borrowed sum was passed on to affiliate witho

IT: In absence of any finding to effect that amount borrowed by assessee from financial institutions was straight away passed on to sister concern without levying interest, interest on borrowed amount could not be disallowed

Units located adjacent to each other with common ST registration may take credit of invoices issued

Cenvat Credit : Where two units are located adjacent to each other and have common service tax registration, practice of taking credit belonging to either of units without considering whether invoice was addressed to Head Office or to units is valid; department cannot seek segregation of credit along with separate registration

Bending iron and steel to create anchor rods won't amount to manufacture under Karnataka VAT Act

CST & VAT : Karnataka VAT - Where assessee manufactured RCC pole clamps, anchor rods, cross arms and H-frames out of iron and steel by just bending of iron and steel and supplied same to a purchaser, process undertaken by assessee could not be considered as any manufacturing activity and, therefore, levy of tax should be only at 4 per cent as declared goods

Revenue couldn't recover disputed demand when assessee had filed stay petition during pendency of ap

IT: Where assessee's appeals were pending before appellate authority in respect of assessment order and after filing of said appeals, assessee filed stay petition under section 220(6), revenue was not justified in calling upon assessee to pay demand

Sum received under bogus sale and purchase of shares was an undisclosed income: HC

IT: Where assessee could not explain receipt of alleged share transactions profits credited in his bank accounts, then sale proceeds had to be added as income of assessee under section 68

Assessee had to pay customs duty with interest as it failed to take extension for fulfilling export

Excise & Customs : Where assessee has failed to fulfil export obligation in time and has also not applied for extension thereof, demand of customs duty along with interest is valid

No insurance claim for damages as vehicle owner didn't apply for registration on expiry of temporary

Motor Vehcile Act : Where an accident had taken place, petitioner as owner of vehicle would not be entitled to claim compensation for damages in respect of vehicle when admittedly vehicle was being driven on date of accident without any valid registration

Mobile trader has to make advertisement every year to remain in limelight; such exp. is allowable as

IT: Annual expenditure incurred on advertisement to make and keep public informed and, aware as also to remain in limelight, would be revenue expenditure

Sale of Scented Supari wasn't eligible for set off under Bombay Sales Tax Rules since it wasn't liab

CST & VAT: Maharashtra VAT - Where assessee effected sale of scented supari against declaration form N-14B and claimed set off under rule 42H of Bombay Sales Tax Rules, since goods sold were not liable to tax under Bombay Sales Tax Act, assessee was not eligible for set off

AO couldn't make provisional attachment of properties without showing that assessee would not pay VA

CST & VAT : Gujarat VAT - Where Assessing Authority passed order under section 45 on assessee attaching its properties on ground that a huge tax demand was likely to arise against it for unpaid tax, since revenue had not placed any material that if ultimately any additional tax liability was finalized, assessee would not pay such taxes, resorting to such power of attachment would not be permissible

CESTAT remanded matter where test results furnished before it weren't made available to AO

Excise & Customs : Where test certificates and results were made available to CESTAT and had not been produced before adjudicating authority and appellate authority, matter was to be remanded back to adjudicating authority

No penalty alleging default in submission of TP docs when assessee had filed such docs within extend

IT/ILT: Where assessee had produced rule 10D documents within extended period, penalty under section 271G was not to be imposed

Software development Co. can't be chosen as comparable for captive service provider

IT/ILT : For computing ALP, Software product development-company cannot be selected as comparable in case of captive service provider

Mumbai customs had no jurisdiction to raise demand alleging misdeclaration when imports took place a

Excise & Customs : Where assessee imported goods at Chennai port and customs authorities at Chennai had cleared goods, Mumbai Customs House has no jurisdiction to raise demand alleging misdeclaration

ITAT condoned delay in filing appeal as assesse was prosecuting case before the wrong forum under bo

IT : Where assessee was prosecuting proceedings for approval under section 12AA bona fidely before wrong forum, a delay of 2353 days in filing appeal against impugned order denying registration was to be condoned

SEBI simplifies account opening process for individual investors trading in cash segment

SEBI : Saral Account Opening Form for Resident Individuals

HC directs AO to re-determine levy of penalty after considering ruling of Apex Court on similar issu

CST & VAT: Rajasthan VAT - Where Assessing Authority imposed penalty upon assessee under section 78(5) and Appellate Authorities deleted same, matter was restored back to Assessing Authority for deciding penalty proceedings afresh

TPO couldn’t determine ALP of services as Nil without examining docs showing rendition of services b

IT/ILT: Where TPO determined value of management fee paid by assessee to its AE at nil without considering material on record showing that AE had in fact rendered services to assessee, order so passed was to be set aside and, matter was to be remanded back for disposal afresh

No penalty under sections 76 and 77 when assessee had paid entire ST with interest before issuance o

Service-tax : Where, in a case involving evasion of service tax, assessee paid service tax along with interest even prior to issuance of notice, assessee was entitled to benefit of section 73(4A) and maximum penalty leviable could be 25 per cent of tax under section 78 and no penalty could be levied under sections 76 and 77

ITAT condoned delay of 6 years in filing appeal as delay was due to prosecution of proceedings befor

IT : Where assessee was prosecuting proceedings for approval under section 12AA bona fidely before wrong forum, a delay of 2353 days in filing appeal against impugned order denying registration was to be condoned

Income from letting out of warehouse alongwith incidental facilities was taxable as income from hous

IT : Where letting out of warehouse together with various services did not constitute a business activity of assessee, rental income therefrom was to be assessed as income from house property

Adani Ports In Talks With Essar Group To Acquire Its Ports Business

Gautam Adani led Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) is said to be in talks with Essar Group to acquire its ports business. According to multiple sources in the know, early stage discussions have been ongoing between both sides and may soon progress to a formal diligence.

Essar Ports, one of the largest private sector player by capacity and throughput, has an operational footprint on both western and eastern coast of the country and can handle liquid (mainly oil), dry bulk (mainly coal), general cargo and small volumes of container crago for specialized project equipment. Its existing aggregate capacity stands at 104 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) across its facilities in Vadinar and Hazira in Gujarat and Paradip in Orissa. The company is looking to expand capacity to 194 MMTPA by 2017. However, officials close to Essar said, the steel-to-mobile retail conglomerate, has identified two of its businesses - power and ports - and is open to divesting either one of them fully to reduce its high group level debts.

On the other hand, Adanis, in June 2014, took over Dharma Port - an equal JV between L&T and Tata Steel - for Rs 5500 crore, in what was the largest deal among private port operators in the country. APSEZ, whose market value has doubled in the last one year, is today the largest multi-port operator of India. From being a single port operator in Mundra, Gujarat, it has spread its presence across 8 ports in India. The company has an aggressive expansion blueprint to increase its annual cargo handling capacity from 108 million tonnes (as on Dec 31st) to 200 million tonnes by 2020.

Sources said, the promoters of Essar, the Ruia family, are expecting an enterprise value of over Rs 15,000 crore for the business which is inclusive of its debt of Rs 5836 crore debt, as of end-FY14. However, post its expansions in Orissa and Gujarat, analysts expect debt levels to go up to Rs 7000 crore. The current market cap of Essar Ports is Rs 5070 crore, with the stock seeing a sudden spurt of 7% in the last 24 hours of trading.

Source:- economictimes.indiatimes.com

RBI further cuts bank rate by 25 bps wef March 4, 2015

BANKING : Change in Bank Rate

India Coal Imports In February Jump From Year Ago, But Drop M-O-M

India's imports of thermal and coking coal jumped 31 perc ent in February from a year ago, as new power plants ramped up output, preliminary data from online trader mjunction showed, though purchases sank month-on-month on rising prices.

Shipments through the 31 coal-handling ports in India, which is about to unseat Japan as the world's second biggest coal importer after China, stood at 17.94 million tonnes in February compared with 13.72 million tonnes a year ago.

Imports in January this year, however, were much higher at 20.29 million tonnes, compared with initial estimates of 15.79 million tonnes, according to the data based on monitoring of vessels and information from shipping companies.

"Spot steam (thermal) coal prices remained volatile in the international markets during February while showing an increasing trend over the previous month," mjunction Chief Executive Officer Viresh Oberoi said in an email.

Prices of thermal coal for export from Australia's Newcastle port, Asia's benchmark, soared 30 per cent in January and February to over $80 a tonne at the end of last month as major miners cut production, although prices have since fallen below $70 a tonne.

India imported 13.61 million tonnes of thermal coal in February this year, 3.54 million tonnes of coking coal and 138,499 tonnes of metallurgical coke among other varieties.

Thermal coal is used for electricity generation in power plants while coking coal and metallurgical coke find use in steel making.

Source:- economictimes.indiatimes.com

Seafood Exporters See Achhe Din

Indian seafood exports are poised to cross the $5-billion-mark achieved last year with figures for 10 months to January 2015 showing a 12% rise, helped by a rise in demand in the US and Southeast Asia.

However, a slowdown in the global market may cause it to fall short of $6 billion at the end of 2015-16.Exporters say prices have slackened in recent months which could put the brakes on revenue in the next two months.

According to figures provided by the Marine Products Export Development Authority, marine product exports stood at 8,75,791 tonne valued at `28,084 crore ($4.7 billion) till the end of January this year.While the quantity increased around 5%, the value in rupee terms went up by 11% compared with the same period of the previous year. The jump is attributed to increased production and export of vannamei shrimps, frozen cuttle fish, both live and chilled.

About 85% of vannamei shrimps production is from Andhra Pradesh, where most of the farms are located.In value terms, the frozen shrimp accounts for over 68% of the total marine product exports from the country .

"Exports will definitely cross $5 billion, but it will be difficult to reach $6 billion as prices have fallen in Europe and the US markets. Movement is slow and buyers are adopting a waitand-watch policy ," said AJ Tharakan, president of the Seafood Exporters Association of India.

In 2013-14, seafood exports from the country reached a record high of `30,213 crore.Southeast Asia, which bought large amounts of shrimps from India because of a shortage following a disease affecting the farms, has recovered a bit, he added. This has led to the region to go slow on purchases.But it is still the second largest buyer of Indian seafood with a share of 26.22%, marginally below the US which accounts for 26.81%.

With vannamei shrimps becoming a money spinner in the Indian seafood exports, the focus has shifted to far med seafood products. The share of sea catch has come down in the total seafood export basket.

"The catch from the sea has also gone down due to a delayed monsoon last year. The price of fishes like tuna has slumped. On top of it, increase in diesel prices has raised the cost of running the boats," said George Joseph, CEO of Starfish Exports.A rise in export of farmed shrimp has made Visakhapatnam the top seafood exporting port of the country.

Source:- economictimes.indiatimes.com

Profit earned by contractor by executing work through sub-contractor wasn’t liable to Kerala VAT

CST & VAT : Kerala VAT - Where assessee, a works contractor, was awarded a contract and it got said work executed through a subcontractor and under this transaction it earned certain amount as profits, in terms of Kerala VAT Act, there was no liability of assessee to pay tax on amount of profit

AO could estimate net profit rate of 8% by referring to Sec. 44AD even if such provision wasn’t appl

IT : In absence of any material to show net profit rate, presumptive net profit rate of 8 per cent as stipulated in section 44AD could be taken for estimation of income though said provision as such was not applicable to assessee, its turnover being more than Rs. 40 lakhs

Appeal against order of DIT is to be filed before ITAT and not before CIT(A)

IT: Appeal against an order of Director of Income-tax passed under section 271FA is to be filed before Tribunal who is higher in rank and not before Commissioner (Appeals) who is equivalent in rank with Director of Income-tax

ITAT couldn’t ignore decision of Special bench even though appeal against such decision was pending

IT : Tribunal was not justified in passing order of remand for redecision ignoring Special Bench decision of Tribunal on issue even though appeal against same was pending adjudication before High Court

No tax on advance received by builder if allotment letter didn’t confer possession rights on allotte

IT : Where allotment letter stipulated that possession of plots was to be given to buyers only on execution of sale deed, advance money given by buyers prior to that date was not required to be treated as income

HC upheld demand as evidence of clandestine removal was found in form of unretracted confessional st

Excise & Customs : When there is overwhelming evidence of clandestine removal in form of unretracted confessional statements, mere failure on part of Excise authorities to produce evidence of extra consumption of electricity or source of procurement of material cannot be a ground to set aside demand

Vessels sharing agreements of Liner Shipping Industry not to be deemed as anti-competitive for 1 yea

COMPETITION ACT : Section 54, Read with Section 3 of the Competition Act, 2002 – Power to Exempt - Exemption to Specified Vessels Sharing Agreements of Liner Shipping Industry under Section 3 of Said Act

CBEC revises guidelines for adjudication of cases booked by Directorate General of Excise Intelligen

EXCISE & CUSTOMS LAWS/ST LAWS : Section 2(b) of the Central Excise Act, 1944 – Central Excise Officer – Instructions on Adjudication of Central Excise and Service Tax Cases Booked by DGCEI

Prior to 1-3-2008, assessee could pay ST on GTA service under reverse charges using cenvat credit

Cenvat Credit : Rule 3(4)(e) provides that Cenvat credit may be utilized for payment of service tax on any output service; hence, service tax on GTA services received under reverse charge, which amounted to output services, could be paid by utilizing Cenvat Credit balance

Society to claim exemption under sec. 80P as earlier exemption notification relied by it was repeale

IT : Where assessee-co-operative society claimed exemption under notification no. SRO/992 dated 22-12-1950 of Income-tax Act, 1922, which was repealed by Income tax Act, 1961, claim of assessee was to be decided according to section 80P

Legal consultancy fee paid to foreign lawyer wasn’t taxable in absence of his base in India

IT/ILT: Where assessee paid a certain sum to Foreign agent, on account of legal consultancy fee for initiating anti-counterfeiting proceeding, since agent was not having any fixed base in India, it could not be taxed in India in respect of fees paid by assessee

ROC can allow e-filing of DIR-12 by one of the resigned directors who was an authorized signatory

COMPANIES ACT, 2013 : Section 168 of the Companies Act, 2013 – Director – Resignation of – Clarification Relating to Filing of E-Form DIR-11 & DIR-12 under Companies Act, 2013

Assessee wasn’t entitled to input tax credit with respect to goods sold to manufacturer for export p

CST & VAT : U. P. VAT - Where assessee purchased goods after payment of tax and sold same to manufacturer-exporter against form 'E' and took input tax credit on said transaction, since sale of goods was exempted from tax under section 7(c), in view of provisions of section 13(7), assessee was not entitled for input tax credit

Sum paid by bank for installation of application software which enhanced efficiency of operations wa

IT : Payment for application software, though there is an enduring benefit, does not result in acquisition of any capital asset and it merely enhances productivity or efficiency of business of assessee and, hence, it has to be treated as revenue expenditure

Exp. incurred by a Co. on production of TV commercial for its products is revenue exp.

IT : Expenditure incurred by assessee on film production by way of advertisement films was allowable as revenue expenditure

Sec. 11AC penalty to be levied on invocation of extended period even if duty is paid prior to issuan

Excise & Customs : Once order is passed invoking extended period of limitation, invocation of section 11AC is automatic and no discretion is vested with authorities to reduce penalty; said penalty is leviable even if duty is paid prior to issuance of notice

Mere routing of gift through banking channel won’t establish its sanctity, says Bombay High Court

IT : Mere routing of a gift through a banking channel would not by itself establish that gift is genuine

[Indian Customs ADD Notification] : Seeks to extend the validity of Notification No. 01/2010-Customs dated 08-01-2010 for a further period of one year i.e. upto and inclusive of 07-01-2016.

[TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE GAZETTE OF INDIA, EXTRAORDINARY, PART II, SECTION 3, SUB-SECTION (i)]

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF FINANCE

(DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE)

NOTIFICATION

No. 06/2015-Customs (ADD)

New Delhi, dated the 03rd March, 2015

G.S.R. (E).-Whereas, the designated authority vide notification number 15/22/2014-DGAD, dated the 7th January, 2015, published in Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part I, Section 1, dated the 7th January, 2015, have initiated review, in terms of sub-section (5) of section 9A of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975) and in pursuance of rule 23 of the Customs Tariff (Identification, Assessment and Collection of Anti-dumping Duty on Dumped Articles and for Determination of Injury) Rules, 1995 (hereinafter referred to as the said rules), in the matter of continuation of anti-dumping duty on "Tyre Curing Presses, except Six Day Light Curing Press for curing bi-cycle tyres" falling under the tariff item 8477 51 00 of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975), originating in, or exported from, the People’s Republic of China, imposed vide notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue), No. 01/2010-Customs, dated the 8th January 2010, published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i) vide number G.S.R. 21 (E), dated the 8th January, 2010, and have requested for extension of anti-dumping duty for a further period of one year, in terms of sub-section (5) of section 9A of the said Customs Tariff Act;

Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-sections (1) and (5) of Section 9A of the said Customs Tariff Act and in pursuance of Rule 23 of the said Rules, the Central Government hereby makes the following further amendment in the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue), No. 01/2010-Customs, dated the 8th January 2010, published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i) vide number G.S.R. 21(E), dated the 8th January 2010, namely: -

In the said notification, after Paragraph 2, the following shall be inserted, namely:-

"3. Notwithstanding anything contained in Paragraph 2 above, this notification shall remain in force up to and inclusive of 7th January, 2016 unless revoked earlier.".

[F. No.354/80/2009-TRU (Pt-I)]

(Akshay Joshi)

Under Secretary to the Government of India

Note.-The principal NOTIFICATION No. 01/2010-Customs, dated the 8th January, 2010 was published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i) vide number G.S.R. 21 (E), dated the 08th January, 2010 and was last amended vide NOTIFICATION No. 26/2012-Customs (ADD), dated the 14th May, 2012 published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i), vide number G.S.R. 361 (E), dated the 14th May, 2012.

Rajasthan VAT provisions imposing conditions to avail of input tax credit aren't arbitrary, says Hig

CST & VAT : Rajasthan VAT - Provisions of sub-section (3) of section 18 of Rajasthan VAT Act imposing conditions to avail input tax credit are not arbitrary, illegal and violative of articles 14, 19(1)(g) and 300A of Constitution and they are valid

A potential comparable Co. can't be excluded merely because of its high or low turnover

IT/ILT : Company with marked differences as regards risk profile, nature of services, ownership of IP rights, expenditure on R&D etc. cannot be selected as comparable company

Assessee had to reverse credit alongwith penalty on his admission of shortage of inputs

Cenvat Credit : In case of admitted shortage of inputs as compared to that shown in Cenvat records, assessee is liable to reverse attributable credit along with penalty

RBI further extends existing all-in-cost ceiling of ECBs by 3 months-

FEMA/ILT : Trade Credits for Imports into India — Review of All-In-Cost Ceiling

Existing all-in-cost ceiling related to trade credit for imports further extended by 3 months

FEMA/ILT : External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) Policy — Review of All-In-Cost Ceiling

Cut flowers sold by EOU to DTA was liable to customs duty as it was made of imported material

Excise & Customs : Where 100 per cent EOU cleared 'cut flowers' to DTA, no excise duty can be charged on such non-excisable 'cut flowers'; only customs department can demand customs duty on imported inputs used in making 'cut flowers

Trust applying 85% of its income on charitable activities would be entitled to sec. 11 relief

IT : Where 85 per cent of gross income of assessee-trust was spent on charitable activities, assessee would be entitled to exemption under section 11

Claiming exemption on declared turnover won’t amount to suppression of turnover; no penalty leviable

CST & VAT : Kerala VAT - Where assessee had declared entire sales turnover and also claimed exemption of said turnover by stating it to be second sales and Assessing Authority had imposed penalty upon it under section 45A, since assessee had declared entire sales turnover and a mere claim for exemption could not be treated at par with suppression of turnover, imposition of penalty was not justified

Excess ST paid in one unit can’t be adjusted with another unit having different registration number

Service-tax : Where assessee's Mumbai unit had made excess payment of service tax under its separate registration, said excess payment cannot be regarded as made on account of different registration at Silvassa unit; hence, Silvassa unit was directed to pay short-paid service tax with interest

Advance to shareholder was deemed dividend as money lending wasn’t part of business of lending Co.

IT : Where lending of money was not part of business of lending companies, loan/advance given to assessee-shareholder would be treated as deemed dividend under section 2(22)(e)

Block assessment proceedings is invalid unless initiated on basis of incriminating material found du

IT : Where there was no incriminating material belonging to assessee found during course of search under section 132A, proceedings under section 153C were not valid

Chairperson and other members of CCI to be governed by provisions of 'New Pension Scheme': MCA

COMPETITION LAWS/INDIAN ACTS & RULES : Competition Commission of India (Salary, Allowances and Other Terms and Conditions of Service of Chairperson and Other Members) Rules, 2003 – Substitution of Rule 4

Assessee not entitled to interest on refund of excess self-assessment tax paid by him, rules Delhi H

IT : Refund of excess self-assessment paid by assessee would not be eligible for interest under section 244A as the provisions of section 244A would not apply thereto

Pre-deposit reduced as assessee had raised arguable points for commencement of production

Excise & Customs : High Court reduced pre-deposit in a case where assessee availed area based exemption claiming commencement of commercial production by 31-3-2010 and department denied same on ground that machinery essential for commercial production and electricity connection was obtained on 31-3-2010 only

Purchase of technical know-how couldn't be taxed as royalty, says ITAT

IT/ILT : Purchase of technical know-how could not be taxed as royalty and, therefore, provisions of section 195 were not applicable

IRDA notifies norms on registration of insurance marketing firms

INSURANCE/INDIAN ACTS & RULES : Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Registration of Insurance Marketing Firm) Regulations, 2015

Govt. releases press note reviewing FDI policy in insurance sector

FDI/FEMA/ILT : Consolidated FDI Policy Circular 2014 – Review of Fdi Policy on Insurance Sector – Amendment in Paragraph 6.2.17.7

Feb Iran Oil Imports Fall To Lowest Since July 2013

India slashed its Iranian oil imports in February to a 1-1/2-year low to keep annual volumes from Tehran near the previous fiscal year's levels and within the limits allowed under a deal aimed at curtailing the OPEC nation's nuclear programme.

India, Iran's top client after China, shipped in about 102,200 barrels per day (bpd) of crude and condensate from Tehran in February, the lowest since July 2013, and down 63 percent from January and 62 percent from a year ago, according to tanker arrival data from trade sources and ship tracking services on the Thomson Reuters terminal.

The cuts follow smaller but still sharp reductions in January. The two months of lower shipments came after New Delhi instructed Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd, Essar Oil and Indian Oil Corp to "virtually halt" Iranian oil imports in February-March.

Refiners in India had raised imports during April-December - the first nine months of this fiscal year - by more than 40 percent, leading U.S. authorities to raise an alarm with India's foreign ministry ahead of President Barack Obama's visit to New Delhi in January, a source involved in the talks said.

New Delhi wants to keep its average oil imports from Iran at 210,000-220,000 bpd or about 11 million tonnes in the year to March 31, 2015, to meet the terms of a temporary deal that asks buyer nations to retain purchases from Tehran at 2013 levels.

The deal brokered by six world powers and Iran in November 2013 eased some sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbs to the Islamic republic's nuclear programme, capping its oil exports at around 1 million-1.1 million bpd.

The powers - the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany - are now working with Iran towards a final agreement on sanctions and its disputed uranium enrichment activities, aiming to reach a political understanding by the end of March and a lasting agreement by a June 30 deadline. Two earlier deadlines have been missed.

The West is worried that Iran's nuclear activities are aimed at making a weapon. Tehran says its uranium enrichment programme is only for power generation.

Over April-February India's oil imports from Iran averaged about 240,000 bpd, or nearly 11 million tonnes, leaving little room for further imports in March.

The April-February imports from Iran were up 16 percent compared with 206,800 bpd imported in the same period of the previous fiscal year, the data showed.

"So far there are no cargoes booked from Iran or Dalian in China for voyage to India (for March arrivals)," a trade source said. Iran has leased oil storage at Dalian in China from which it can supply regional clients.

MRPL had to buy additional oil from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia for February and March to make up for the reduced Iranian oil imports, said an industry source.

MRPL has also booked Iraq's Basra light for March loading from spot markets to replace crude from Iran. MRPL's managing director H. Kumar declined to comment on any additional purchases from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Source:reuters.com

India Raises Metallurgical Coke Import Tax To 5% From 2.5%

India has hiked its customs tax on metallurgical coke to 5% from 2.5% starting April 1 this year, a move that could help domestic coke producers cope with heavy competition from cheaper Chinese imports.

The import duty on iron and steel will also be increased to 15% from 10%, finance minister Arun Jaitley said during the country's Union Budget 2015-2016 speech on Saturday.

India imported 3.69 million mt of coke from January to November 2014, according to data provider GTIS, an increase of 10.6% when compared to the previous year.

This is despite the imposition of the 2.5% import duty in July 2014 under the previous government's budget. China is the biggest supplier of metallurgical coke to India, accounting for 2.01 million mt, or 54% of the market share in 2014. It is the largest shipper of met coke in the world, exporting 8.6 million mt in 2014. Market participants gave a mixed verdict to the doubling of the import duty.

The import tax rise -- amounting to an additional charge of $4-5/mt under current spot pricing -- will increase the competitiveness of domestic coke versus imports, according to one merchant coke producer, estimating domestic coke with 64/62% CSR and 12.5% ash to be tradable at Rupees 12,000- 12,500/mt ex-works east India.

However, he said the marginal rise in steel import duties will not be enough to lift poor downstream steel demand. Although the move might aid the merchant coke producers, it only serves to increase the raw materials costs for the overall steel industry, according to one steelmaker in east India.

"The merchant coke plants will welcome this, but not steelmakers who need lower input costs to compete with all the cheap Chinese steel coming in," the mill source said, adding that he was disappointed that the current 2.5% import tax -- imposed under the previous year's budget -- wasn't removed.

An international met coke exporter appeared to be unfazed by the news. "Chinese coke prices are still falling, so I still think that Chinese coke will still be competitive to India despite the tax," the trading source said.

The source was confident that Chinese coke still had an advantage when compared to Indian coke due to price, and better quality such as lower phosphorous content. "Chinese imported coke is still workable," the trader said.

India is the world's 7th largest producer of met coke, at 10 million mt, estimated one large Indian cokemaker. It was the top seaborne importer of Chinese coke in 2014.

Source:platts.com

Iron Ore Imports Jump Multi-Fold To 5.63 Mt In April-November, Fy15

Iron ore imports have increased sharply to 5.63 million tonnes in 2014-15 till November as against 0.37 million tonnes in previous financial year, the government said today.

"The import of iron ore has increased from 0.37 million tonnes (MT) in year 2013-14 to 5.63 MT in the year 2014-15 (April-November)," Minister of State for Steel and Mines Vishnu Deo Sai said in a reply to the Lok Sabha.

The minister further said there is no acute shortage of raw material like iron ore. However, there are regional shortages of iron ore due to Supreme Court's decisions regarding lease renewal in Goa and Odisha and cancellation of mining leases in Karnataka.

"Coking coal which is used in steel making is largely imported into India due to its non-availability," the minister said. Iron ore imports in 2012-13 were at 3.05 MT while in the previous 2011-12 year imports were 0.97 MT, the minister said.

He further said that as per the report of the Working Group on Steel for the 12th Five Year Plan for 2016-17, the iron ore requirement is 206.2 MT for crude steel production capacity of 125.9 MT.

At present 21 per cent of crude steel production is being done by public sector and 79 per cent of crude steel production is being done by private sector.

Source:economictimes.indiatimes.com

RBI prohibits citizens of Macau and Hong Kong from acquiring/transferring immovable properties in In

FEMA/ILT/INDIAN ACTS & RULES : FEM (Acquisition and Transfer of Immovable Property in India) (Amendment) Regulations, 2015 – Substitution of Regulation 7

Customs Revenue Shrinks As Import Of Fresh Items From India Decreases By 70Pc

The import of fresh items like tomatoes, ginger and garlic form India via Wagha border has decreased by 70 percent. Pakistan Customs collects revenue on the import of fresh items, which will now decrease due to the less imports.

An official said that the decline in import of fresh items was due to the season, as the local production will increase during these days, which will be enough for domestic needs.

He added that import of fresh items will increase again in July. He said that less imports will result in less revenue for the Pakistan Customs, as it collects regulatory duty, sales tax and income tax on imported items.

He said almost 15 to 20 trucks carrying fresh items are entering Pakistan from India on a daily basis, while almost 120 trucks used to enter earlier during the routine trade.

Source:customstoday.com.pk

Aqua Aquaria 2015: India’S Seafood Exports Up 4.87 Per Cent During April 15 To Jan 15

India’s seafood exports have recorded an increase of 4.87 per cent at 875,791 tonnes during April 2014 to January 2015. Exports in dollar terms were up by 11.84 per cent to $4.72 billion, as compared to $4.22 billion.

During the same period last year, seafood exports were recorded at 835,125 tonnes, the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) said in a statement released at Aqua Aquaria 2015. MPEDA attributed the growth to increase production and export of L.Vannamei shrimps.

Frozen shrimps continued as principle item in exports with 17.43 per cent growth at 300,147 tonnes, as compared to 255,603 tonnes exported in the same period last year.

The increase in frozen shrimps was due to increased and export of cultured L.Vannamei shrimps. About 85 per cent of L.Vannamei shrimps are exported from Andhra Pradesh.

Export of frozen cuttle fish has also shown tremendous growth with 19.67 per cent growth at 69,966 tonnes, against 58,465 tonnes exported during the same period last year.

However, frozen fish export decrease by 3.2 per cent at 268,922 tonnes, as compared to 277,824 tonnes exported during April 2013 to January 2014.

US was the biggest market with 26.42 per cent share, followed by South East Asia with 25.69 per cent, European Union with 20.77 per cent, Japan with 8.97 per cent, other countires 8.52 per cent, middle east with 5.80 per cent and China with 3.84 per cent.

Export to US has increased by 10.64 per cent and was the biggest market for Indian cultured shrimps with 42.09 per cent. The share of L.Vannamei shrimps to South East Asian countries was about 16.48 per cent and European union was 18.11 per cent.

Aqua Aquaria 2015, a biennial international aquaculture event, was organised in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh from February 20 to 22, 2015 by MPEDA.

Source:thefishsite.com

Union Budget Aims At Structural Changes With Focus On Infra: Fieo

Apex exporters body, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) while commenting on the Union Budget 2015-16, said that the Budget has aimed at structural changes in Indian economy focussing on infrastructure, tourism, manufacturing particularly micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME), ease of doing business, and curbing black money.

A firm date of GST and move towards it by raising the service tax from 12 percent to 14 percent is the most notable feature of the budget which will also help exports and may give an additional 1-2 percent GDP push to economy.

"Micro Units Development Refinance Agency (MUDRA) Bank, with a corpus of Rs 20,000 Crores, and credit guarantee corpus of Rs 3,000 crores and Trade Receivables discounting System (TReDS) for facilitating financing of trade receivables of MSMEs will address the liquidity problem of small business said," President, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), M Rafeeque Ahmed said in a press release on Saturday. However, FIEO Chief complimented the Finance Minister for rightly focussing on infrastructure.

Establishment of National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) with an annual flow of 20,000 Crores, Tax free infrastructure bonds for the projects in the rail, road and irrigation sectors, Corporatisation of Ports in public sector to attract investment and leverage the huge land resources and 5 new Ultra Mega Power Projects, each of 4000 MW, in the Plug-and-Play mode will help manufacturing and exports.

Reduction of customs duty and special additional duty on some of key inputs, increase in availing of CENVAT Credit from 6 to 12 months, Online excise and service tax registration in 48 hrs and exemption of service tax on transportation of exports goods from factory to land customs station will add to competitiveness of exports said Ahmed.

However, President FIEO said that he expected reduction, if not abolition of MAT and DDT for SEZ Units, introduction of interest subvention for exports and an announcement of reduction in exports and imports documents in the Budget but hoped that such matters would be looked into shortly before passing of the Budget.

Source:smetimes.in

Budget 2015: Smuggling Of Gold Will Continue If Fm Arun Jaitley's Scheme Fails, Experts Say

Entry of gold through the illegal route will continue if Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's gold monetisation scheme fails to enthuse Indians to unlock their household gold, experts say. It is estimated that Indian households hold nearly 20,000 tonnes of the yellow metal.

Gold import attracts 10% duty and despite several representations by the industry, Jaitley did not reduce it in the budget announced on Saturday, raising fears that unofficial gold supply will increase in the market.

"The FM has announced a slew of measures to curb black money in India, yet he has ignored one of the biggest issues of smuggling of gold into the country. Unless the import duty is lowered, the unofficial route will thrive and even black money may find a way into the country in the form of gold," said Mehul Choksi, chairman of Gitanjali group.

According to the World Gold Council, nearly 200 tonnes of gold entered India in 2014 through the illegal route. The landed cost of "official" gold has increased by 20% in the last one year compared with unofficial gold, as the premium went up due to strict import norms, gold traders said. "The impact of this " unofficial" supply of gold is valued at about $10 billion, leading to a loss in foreign exchange inflow of a similar amount and a loss in revenue of over $1 billion on account of customs duty," Choksi said.

Smuggling of gold and alleged entry of black money in the form of gold can only come down if India can reduce its dependence on imported gold. The FM's gold monetisation scheme is a step in that direction. Gold traders says that if the scheme is attractive, Indians might respond favourably. "We are waiting for the details of the scheme," said Haresh Soni, chairman, All India Gem & Jewellery Trade Federation.

The country generally imports 850-950 tonnes of gold every year. Earlier, the industry has proposed to the government that as part of the gold monetisation scheme, a bank account would have to be opened by the retail customer. Gold can be deposited for a maximum tenure of three years and the rate of interest will be tentative, depending upon the prevailing interest rate. When mature, the interest is paid not in rupees, but in gold, and the investor has more gold in his account.

Banks can lend this gold to jewellers or deposit it with the Reserve Bank of India that will free rupee liquidity for them. The industry feels that the introduction of Indian-made gold coins is a move in the right direction. "It is not yet clear whether the government will mint these coins or not. We are waiting for clarification from government," said Bachhraj Bamalwa, director, Nemichand Bamalwa & Sons.

Source:economictimes.indiatimes.com

Rupee Marginally Down At 61.88 Per Dollar; Bond Yield Inches Up

The rupee was marginally down against the US dollar in afternoon trading on Monday as the greenback strengthened against major global peers in reaction to the interest rate cut by China on the weekend.

Dollar demand from state-owned banks, most likely on behalf of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), also kept the rupee under pressure.

At 2.30pm the Indian currency was trading at 61.8825 per dollar, down 0.07% from its previous close of 61.83 per dollar. It touched a low of 61.95 per dollar on Monday.

“The dollar’s strength has been the main reason for the rupee’s weakness. But there are also inflows in the market which are being absorbed by state-owned banks,” said a dealer with a US bank.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against a basket of currencies, touched 95.50 on Monday, its highest level since September 2003, as an interest rate cut by China on Saturday put that country’s slow economic recovery under the spotlight. The resultant weakness in other Asian currencies also affected the rupee.

The yield on the 10-year bond inched up to 7.76% from Friday’s close of 7.72% in reaction to Saturday’s budget announcement which increased the fiscal deficit target to 3.9% of gross domestic product (GDP) against market estimates of 3.6% to 3.8% of GDP.

“Yields have inched up but there is still widespread expectations that the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) will cut rates further in April which is why yields have not taken a tumble,” said the dealer quoted above.

Bond yields are likely to inch up after finance minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said he will achieve the fiscal deficit target of 3% by 2017-18, a year later than schedule, citing an increase in public spending required to support economic growth.

Source:livemint.com

SEBI requires completion of 5 years of service by its female employees to be eligible for 'hardship

SEBI/INDIAN ACTS & RULES : SEBI (Employees' Service) (Amendment) Regulations, 2015 – Substitution of Regulation 36A

Assessee must indicate reasons for seeking cross-examination, says Ahmedabad CESTAT

Excise & Customs : Having not justified or indicated reason for seeking cross-examination, assessee cannot claim that there is a violation of principles of natural justice.